Whoa, take it easy, Ice King! I know, it’s shocking that I’m finally updating my blog. I am… the worst. Buuut, one of the things I was working on whilst neglecting my blog was art (pencils/inks/colors) for a 4-page story for the Adventure Time Annual! The script was by long-time crony Josh Williamson. And if I’m not mistaken, it should be in comic book stores this week!

Here’s a look at the title panel:

I’d show show you more, but this is already like 10% of the whole story. C’mon, it’s only a 4-pager, whaddaya want from me?

Welcome to my new blog, now hosted on my very own domain: JASONBOT.COM!

You will find that all of the posts from my old blog have been imported to the new site–however they have not yet been altered, which means that some links are going to redirect you to the old site. My apologies for that! Over the next several weeks (possibly months) I will be working hard to make sure that the links in every single post are updated. I’ll also be overhauling the post tags/categories, and just generally trying to class the joint up. The details aren’t important, just stick around.

For those interested in a little background–I started my old blog on New Year’s Day of 2007, with a goal of posting 2 color sketches a week. I took about 6 months off in the latter half of 2010, however, by my calculations–adjusting for the the intensified posting while I was working on the Help the Cheerleader commissions–I still averaged roughly 2 drawings per week. So, with 5 years in the can on the old blog, it seemed like a good time to begin anew.

Whether you’ve been with me since the beginning, or only just stumbled upon this blog, thank you for reading! I hope you stick around for my nerdy scribblings and my geeky ramblings.

A special thanks to Kevin Church, who I obliquely referred to in my very first blog post, and who very generously worked his magic to create a blog template (for this site) that fit my needs and wants!

Okay, that’s all for now. Regular posting should resume this Tuesday. And off we go!

The write ups about Help the Cheerleader have been incredibly supportive, and there have been some terribly kind things said about me, which I certainly do not deserve. However, I am grateful and shocked, to say the least. A few highlights (click to see each article):

Never did I dream that I would see a huge burst in my pageviews, and that the vast majority of the visitors would be from Ms. Magazine!

So, I have indeed started on the sketch commissions–pencilled about 23 of them so far. Nothing inked and colored yet, but I am making progress. In the meantime, here’s one of my sample sketches, Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm of the X-Men:

There’s a fundraising website called helpthecheerleader.com. If you haven’t heard of them, please take a minute to read about their cause. The site is run by Jessica and Theresa, who work their asses off in their free time for a good cause. If you get a chance, tweet them, or drop a comment on the site to let them know what a great job they’re doing.

A few days ago, they launched a fundraising campaign offering sketch commissions (by me) in exchange for a $20 donation.

We had a limit of 20 commission slots.

On the first day, we received about 15 requests. I was relieved that people were interested!

On the second day, thanks to re-tweets by many notable geek/comics bloggers and write ups from some well-known websites, we received over 130 requests.

Let me say that again, we received 130 requests in one day.

That puts us at a total of about 145 requests (I think we’re actually closer to 150, but we’re still sorting through them). So y’know, that’s way past our cap of 20. We are truly overwhelmed and grateful for the positive response!

Let’s cut to the chase here:

We are going to honor every commission request that was submitted before the website was updated to inform people that requests were closed.

So, here’s how it’ll work:

As we planned, the first 20 people who made requests are going to be given information on how to make their donation.

Everyone else goes on a wait list. Each person will be sent an email letting them know what number they are on the list. The people on the wait list do not pay up front, and they are under no obligation–if anyone wants to be taken off the wait list, just email us. No pressure, and no hard feelings.

After I finish the first 20 commissions, we will email the next 15 people on the wait list to let them know that they’re up, and give them information on how to make their donation, and I will begin on their commissions.

After I finish those 15 commissions, we will email the next 15 people, and so on.

I will be posting commissions here on my blog as I finish them, so you can get an idea of how long you might have to wait if you’re #142 on the list.

Please bear with us while we get this thing running smoothly. We just need to sort through all the requests/donations and then I’ll be off to the races. I’m chomping at the bit to get started. This really unintentionally turned into a race horse analogy.

So there you have it.

Lastly, I just want to say a few words of thanks:

To everyone who requested a sketch (even if you didn’t make it before we cut off requests), thank you for your generosity and compassion. This nerdy misanthrope is relieved to know that there are some good people in this world.

If you tweeted about this, re-tweeted it, emailed it to somebody, linked it in IM to a friend, blogged about it, re-blogged it, tumbled it, re-tumbled it, hell, if you opened up your window and hollered about it to someone passing by on the street, then I love you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is so hard to get the word out on a good cause, but you folks made it easy.

I totally forgot to mention all that in my last blog post, which I apologize for. Jessica and Theresa were fundraising long before I ever approached them with my idea, and without them, none of this would be possible. They’re doing an amazing job, so please shoot them a tweet, or drop a comment on the LXL site to let them know that!

SECOND: The first day of commission requests went great! As of 8:30pm, we had received 14 requests! Requests are being processed, and I will start drawing ASAP! Check back here for updates, I will be posting commissions as I finish them.

IN SUMMARY: Thanks again to Jessica, Theresa, Jenn, and the LXL. Thanks to all my friends on Twitter and Facebook who helped spread the word on this. Thanks to all the strangers on Twitter and Facebook who helped spread the word. And a BIG THANKS to the people who have requested commissions so far!

A Silsbee High School cheerleader took her school to court when they kicked her off the squad for refusing to cheer her own rapist.

The week of May 5, 2011 the Supreme Court refused to hear the case and is requiring her family pay the school $45,000 in legal fees.

We want to help – and we want to give you the opportunity to help too.

The less I say about it, the better, cause if I start talking about it, I’m just gonna get mad. Suffice it to say, this is utterly unacceptable, and if we can help, we should.

So for $20 bucks, you get a full color sketch from me and you help a good cause! And if you don’t want a sketch from me, you can still donate to the site, that’s cool too! Either way, please spread the word! Thank you!

(EDIT, 01/20/2011: for those who are interested, I’ve compiled this step-by-step walkthrough into a single huge image file–you can get it on my DeviantArt account here)

I talk a decent amount about my artistic process on this blog, but I don’t think I’ve ever really given you, Dear Reader, an actual step-by-step glimpse at what my process looks like. So I thought today it would be nice to take a look at how a finished drawing by J.Ho comes together. Let’s get right into it…

* * *

STAGE ZERO: The assignment and the character.

The “assignment” in this case was not a blog post (although it has become, a blog post), but rather a cover illustration for a book. My old crony Charles produces an e-zine of speculative fiction called If-E-Zine (pronounced Iffy Zine). He was planning to compile some of his work into a book, and I offered my services for the cover.

The cover was to feature the e-zine’s mascot and sometimes ‘host,’ Iffy the Ifreet, a horn-mohawked, skull-faced demon, garbed in leather, chains and spikes (very metal). Charles has dressed as Iffy for Halloween a few times (link, link, link), but always with a slightly different appearance, so I was given free reign to come up with a unique character design, as long as I met the basic criteria.

STAGE ONE: Basic concept for character design, and rough thumbnail for pose.

click above for larger view

At this stage I’m just loosely sketching Iffy, figuring out what he’s going to look like. Combining my favorite aspects of Charles’ past Iffy Halloween appearances, I’m able to decide on the proportions of Iffy’s face, and the configuration of his horns. I sketch him with a powerful build, and very quickly I stumble upon what will become Iffy’s pose for the final illustration–Iffy will be a menacing figure, stalking towards us, with a dangerous warhammer hefted over one shoulder, and a hand aglow with mystic fire.

I start working on some of the details of his costume and his weapon’s design, but before I get any further, I send what I have to Charles, to make sure he likes where it’s headed. He gives me the go ahead and I move forward…

STAGE TWO: Working out costume details.

click above for larger view

A character like Iffy should have a costume that isn’t to symmetrical, but on the other hand, you want the elements to feel balanced so that no one area feels too busy or too bare. One of the changes I make here is to change the barbed wire to razor wire for a more streamlined visual read.

STAGE THREE: Rough cover layout.

click above for larger view

Not much to see here–I just take the rough pose that I’ve come up with, and put it in a template matching the dimensions for the cover, so that I can figure out how the type will match up with the illustration.

STAGE FOUR: Color study.

click above for larger view

Now I’m ready to start the actual drawing… but not really. I’m planning on a very particular backlit color scheme, and I feel the need to do a quick color study over the rough cover layout. This piece isn’t crazy-involved, but I want to make sure that what I’ve got in my head (in terms of layout, type placement, and color) will actually work out on paper. Once I’m satisfied with it, I clear it with Charles, and start drawing…

STAGE FIVE: Loose pencils.

click above for larger view

This probably seems like a complex step, but once the costume details and pose are set, fleshing out the drawing is relatively straightforward. If you look carefully, you can see that I’m contemplating a flame pattern emblazoned on Iffy’s coat, but I’m not crazy about how it’s looking. Charles decides the flames on the coat are too busy, so the final version won’t have them.

When I’m inking my own work, it’s usually unnecessary to tighten the pencils further than this, so I leave it as is and move on to the final inks…

STAGE SIX: Type treatment + final line-art in layout.

click above for larger view

When I finish the final inks, I scan them, clean them up in Photoshop, and place them in the rough cover layout. Charles wants a retro-horror-looking title font, so I research some, and hand-draw a treatment for the title. I place that in the rough cover layout as well, and now we’ve really got an idea of how the final piece is going to look.

STAGE SEVEN: Colors.

click above for larger view

I might have mentioned never shut up about what a slow colorist I am, so for me, this step is particularly time consuming. Someday I’ll make a step-by-step post about my coloring process, which is a whole thing unto itself, but for now I’ll just give you the basics.

Usually I just start slopping some colors around to nail down my color choices. Once I’ve got that figured out, I clean everything up. To keep things flexible for revisions, I tend to keep like-colors in separate layers, and give lighting effects (like the green flame and green highlights) their own layer as well. Color-wise, the important thing with this piece is the dramatic lighting created by the backlight and the green flame, so that’s my focus as I bring this illustration to a close.

Charles is happy with what I’ve done, so that means the illustration is finished, and I just need to finalize the cover layout…

STAGE EIGHT (FINAL): The result.

Charles gives me a template for the cover, as well as all the pertinent copy for the front and back covers. I make a blown-up, faded, monochromatic version of Iffy to use as a design element for the back cover, and insert that, along with all the copy. Behold, the final result:

I cannot thank Brian Warmoth and Comics Alliance enough for putting my art in front of so many viewers. But I will try: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

However, this means that I have chosen a terrible time to put the blog on hiatus, which I apologize for. Unfortunately current circumstances are what they are, so I’ll still need a bit of a break. Rest assured, that with encouragement like this, I will definitely be back sooner rather than later. See you soon, folks!

For today’s post, I’m offering up a rare crossover betwen my day job and my blog.

In the past, I’ve mentioned a few times that I work for Bongo Comics, publishers of a variety of Simpsons and Futurama comic books and collections. Well, last Wednesday, this gem finally hit stores:

This deluxe collected edition features both Simpsons/Futurama Crossovers, which were written by the very talented Ian Boothby, and pencilled by the equally talented James Lloyd. The hardcover book measures 7.5 x 11 inches (larger than standard comic dimensions), clocks in at 208 pages, and comes in a robust die-cut slipcase. It retails for $24.95, which is already a great value, but can be found for a significant discount from the usual online book-sellers. Please check the book out–it’s very funny, smartly written, gorgeously illustrated, and (I say this as a fan, not an employee), it’s truly one of my favorite Bongo stories of all time.

This new collection has some bonus materials, including some great preliminary sketches and character designs from James Lloyd’s sketchbook, and a pin-up gallery featuring Alex Ross, Sergio Aragonés, Geof Darrow, Kyle Baker, Glenn Fabry, Tone Rodriguez, Peter Kuper, Ty Templeton, Bernie Wrightson, and more. Well, somehow, there’s also a pin-up in there by a total unknown, AKA yours truly. If I may present today’s post, my pin-up, titled, Cosmic Brouhaha:

click above for larger view

(Apologies for the watermark)

I’ve been at Bongo for well over a decade (basically my entire adult life), so this piece has a great deal of personal significance, as I feel like it represents my growth both on and off the job. This pin-up really gave me a chance to stretch my wings, and I think it’s my most ambitious color piece to date. Stylistically, I chose to keep the characters relatively on-model, but in terms of the general crowded cross-overy energy of it, I did my best to channel George Pérez. Overall, I really had a blast with this!

I have no idea why the good Doctor’s character design so closely resembles that of Doctor Fate. You’ll have to take that up with the creators of Champions. I also have no idea why my drawing turned out so meh and stiff. That is strictly my fault. I think the colors turned out decently though. Gold is shiny.

._.

OH HEY–don’t forget to go to your local comic book store tomorrow and pick up the new JLA 80-page giant, which includes stories written by my pals Josh and Derek! Click on the pic below for details… DO EET!

I’ve mentioned Nathan‘s Boris the Raccoon previously. Starting this Saturday (August 15th), some Boris customs will be on display (and for sale!) at the Black Maria Gallery. The show runs through September 5th, but if you aren’t local, don’t forget that you can still purchase a normal Boris from the U1 Toy Arts website.

Not sure if you should buy Boris? Well, he looks great standing on your window sill while you’re away:

click above for larger view

And he looks great hanging out with ol’ Bone-Brain, whilst planning some kind of mischief and/or mayhem:

click above for larger view

I know what you’re all asking yourselves…

“Hey Jason, what would it look like if you drew Boris looking somewhat aggro with an arbitrarily-added orange light source?”

Here is your answer:

click above for larger view

I had a lot of fun with this–it’s always interesting to do a take on a very stylized character and see if you can walk the line between keeping recognizability and adding your own style. And the basic color scheme on Boris made it easier to play around with adding the random extra light source. Now go buy yourself a Boris!

Yesterday, in a rare excursion into the outside world, I attended the official launch party for Boris at Meltdown Comics. Vinyl Pulse has posted coverage here. Err… I mean coverage of the launch party, not of my attendence thereof.

Here’s a picture of the Boris that I purchased, now integrated into my menagerie of desktop toys!

Well, it seems the prolific young Joshua has become very difficult to keep up with recently–last week the third and final issue of his series Overlook hit stores.

Overlook is a gritty noir tale for mature readers written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Ale Aragon. The cover for #3 (below, left) is drawn by Ale with colors by Jacob Glaser. All three issues are available now (covers for #1 and #2 are shown below, right).

click above for larger view

And what’s this? DC comics is soliciting a Justice League of America 80-Page Giant which includes a story written by the same Joshua Williamson? And it also features a story written by yet another pal, Derek Fridolfs? And it’s on sale September 30th, for $5.99?

Plug first, sketch second–you all know my crony/chum Hammers, right? He’s better known to the world as Nathan Hamill, and he’s been interviewed on StarWars.com regarding his participation in the most recent series of Star Wars Galaxies trading cards. Click HERE to read it.

At the peak of my vile plague I was barely blogging and missed out on telling you all that Johnny Monster #2 was solicited. And now Johnny Monster #3 is available for order in the current issue of Previews.

The peaceful habitat Johnny Monster created for the monsters has been invaded by violent mercenaries causing utter chaos! As a result, the largest monster the world has ever seen has been unleashed on New York City on a quest for revenge! Only Johnny can stop him… but does he want to? Don’t miss the exciting conclusion to this monster-ous mini-series!

Check out the covers to both #2 and #3, drawn by the talented J.C. Grande and colored by yours truly:

click above for larger view

Be sure to ask your local comic shop to order Johnny Monster #3! It’s on page 170 of February’s Previews catalog, and the Diamond order number is FEB09 2437.

Johnny Monster is the world’s foremost super-star monster hunter, but what the world doesn’t know is that he was raised by the same monsters he’s “hunting”! Now, in order to save his adoptive family…he must fight them! Johnny Monster mixes Tom Strong with Godzilla movies by way of Tarzan and the Phantom to create a compelling and different monster mash! From the acclaimed writer of Dear Dracula and Necessary Evil!

Another offering from my crony Josh, with art by a new collaborator, the talented J.C. Grande! Johnny Monster promises to be a really fun comic, but let’s face, what I’m interested in is ME ME ME. Josh asked me to color the covers for Johnny Monster, and it was really the first time I colored someone else’s art. It was an interesting experience, and I’m pretty happy with the results. Here are J.C.’s bare inks, alongside the finished cover, with my colors, and a very slick logo by Vinny:

click above for larger view

Be sure to ask your local comic shop to order Johnny Monster #1! It’s on page 168 of December’s Previews catalog, and the Diamond order number is DEC08 2275.